In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with journalist and commentator Negar Mortazavi about the developments & dynamics around the now six-month old war in Iran. They discuss what the U.S. got wrong in its expectations for the war, why the MOU between the U.S. & Iran broke down, and how the economic warfare of sanctions is working. They also look at what is happening on the ground in Iran, including with the possibility of real opposition to the regime, and how the Iranian diaspora is navigating the war, opposition to the regime, and divisions in the diaspora.  Negar Mortazavi is an award-winning journalist and commentator, editor and host of the Iran Podcast, and a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy (CIP), based in Washington DC. She has been covering Iranian and Middle Eastern affairs as well as US foreign policy towards the Middle East for fifteen years. She is a frequent media commentator and has appeared on CNN, NBC, NPR, BBC, France24, Aljazeera, and other global outlets. She has written for Foreign Policy magazine, Politico, The Intercept, The Independent, and other publications, and is regularly invited to speak at panels and conferences around the world about Iranian affairs and US foreign policy. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/. Original music by Jalal Yaquob.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with journalist Alex Kane (Jewish Currents) about the role that Palestine/Israel is playing in different elections around the country, the Jewish vote in Michigan and Florida, and how to think about the differences, similarities, and impacts of AIPAC versus J Street.  See this new article by  (Mari Cohen, Alex Kane, and Josh Nathan-Kazis in Jewish Currents (9/1/26): Could Jewish Democrats Actually Cost Abdul El-Sayed a Senate Seat? Alex Kane is a senior reporter at Jewish Currents, where he writes about the politics of Israel/Palestine in the United States. My work has also appeared in The Guardian, The Nation, In These Times, Ha'aretz, The Intercept, VICE, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Al Jazeera, The Forward and more. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with researcher Ben Lorber about the "bad-faith disinfo[rmation] attacks" against Hasan Piker and others, which cast critiques of Israel as antisemitism. Peter and Ben look at the competition between the Left and the Right to explain Israel's behavior and define anti-Israel politics, with the Left offering a structural critique of Israel, naming imperialism and ethnonationalism, versus the Right's focus on what they identify as essentialist faults with Jewish character and identity. Ben and Peter also discuss how bad-faith accusations of antisemitism make it difficult to hold productive conversations about antisemitism, Israeli policy, and other political issues, how to think about "calling someone out" vs. "calling them in" over political disagreements; and how to think about political strategies for both short-term and long-term goals.  Ben Lorber is a writer, researcher and movement strategist. He works as Senior Research Analyst at Political Research Associates, a think tank that works to understand and counter authoritarian movements, where he focuses on antisemitism and white Christian nationalism. He is co-author of Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism (Melville House, 2024). Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/. Original music by Jalal Yaquob

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Eli Clifton and Ian Lustick, co-authors of the new book Israel’s Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power. They discuss the priorities and mechanisms used by what the call the Israel Lobby and whether it always gets its way; how to talk about the Israel lobby without being a conspiracy theorist; and the possibilities for the Israel lobby's future.  Eli Clifton is an investigative journalist who focuses on money in politics and US foreign policy. He is a cofounder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft where he serves as a senior adviser. His work has appeared in The Guardian, The Nation, The Intercept, The South China Morning Post, LobeLog, Salon, HuffPost, The Daily Beast, Slate, Gawker, Foreign Policy, and Responsible Statecraft. Ian S. Lustick is the Bess W. Heyman Chair, Emeritus, in the Political Science Department of the University of Pennsylvania. He served in the Carter administration as the State Department’s expert on Israel-Palestine affairs and subsequently became a regular consultant with American administrations on US foreign policy and national security affairs. He is a founder and past President of the Association for Israel Studies and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor interviews FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart about Peter's recent Jewish Currents essay, "The Shame of the American Jewish Establishment," which offers a political and historical look at American Jewish institutions, known broadly as the American Jewish establishment. They discuss Peter's analysis of the trajectory of American Jewish institutions & their leadership, which in the mid-20th century saw American Jewish wellbeing as tied to the growth and expansion of American liberal democracy and thus supported civil rights, women's rights, and LGBT+ rights, and where they are now, which is abandoning the fight for American democracy in favor of support for the state of Israel. Peter posits that if American Jewish institutions and the people who work in them once navigated a dichotomy in which they supported legal equality in the United States but Jewish supremacy in Israel/Palestine, that contradiction has been solved: in the wake of Israel's assault on Gaza and Trump's 2024 return to power, these institutions and their leadership prioritize support for Israel over any other values or needs, including the dangerous growth of Christian nationalism, election denial, and open racism. Ahmed & Peter also discuss why they think it is important to speak with people with whom they hold profound disagreements - such as Curt Mills and Tucker Carlson - and why it's both necessary and possible to challenge them on the racism and other hate they explicitly or implicitly platform. Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNOW Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. He publishes regularly on https://peterbeinart.substack.com/. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Swedish author Göran Rosenberg. They discuss messianism in Jewish history, the continuity from 1950s Tel Aviv to the settler movement Gush Emunim to the manifestation of the settlement movement today. They also look at questions of collective rights, framed in terms of 'peoplehood,' versus individual rights. Göran Rosenberg is the author most recently of Israel, a Personal History (Penguin Random House 2025). His other books include A Brief Stop on the Road From Auschwitz (2017) and Another Zionism, Another Judaism (2025). See more on his personal website.  Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP.  You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Hani Almadhoun, Vice President of Philanthropy at UNRWA USA and co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen, an initiative that Hani and his family in Gaza started to feed people in Gaza during the Israeli genocide. Hani and Ahmed speak about Hani's family in Gaza and the work of the Gaza Soup Kitchen from its founding until today. They discuss the mission and work of UNRWA and the role that UNRWA USA plays in supporting it. And they talk about accountability, justice, and ways forward.  Hani Almadhoun is the Vice President of Philanthropy at UNRWA USA and co-founder of Gaza Soup Kitchen. Born in the Emirates, Hani’s family fled to the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. It was tough adjusting to the harsh conditions in Gaza during the First Intifada, but his family was made whole again when his dad got a job at an UNRWA school teaching English to refugees. A child of an educator, Hani was raised with the mantra of school being the top priority, and in this pursuit, he eventually found his way to the United States, thanks to a university scholarship from the LDS Church. After earning both his Masters in Public Administration and his BA in International Studies and Latin American studies from Brigham Young University, Hani settled in Washington, DC where he fell into the world of fundraising for various causes that spoke to him, including civil rights and social justice groups for Muslim and Arab Americans and charities that serve the Palestinian people and other marginalized communities in the Middle East. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. You can follow Ahmed on Substack at: https://ahmedmoor.substack.com and on X at @AhmedMoor. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.

In this conversation, FMEP non-resident Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Seth Ackerman (Jacobin Magazine) about the latter's recent article on a speech by Rahm Emanuel (former White House Chief of Staff to President Obama), and what it might say about current political thinking in the the Democratic Party. They also discuss what opportunities exist in the U.S. to exert pressure on Israel and pursue accountable. For resources and biographies, please visit: https://fmep.org/resource/reeling-israel-in-a-conversation-with-seth-ackerman/ Original music by Jalal Yacoub

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Abed Abou Shhadeh, a community organizer based in Jaffa who served as a City Council representative of the Palestinian community in Jaffa-Tel Aviv from 2018 to 2024. The discussion centered on an essay Abed published June 18, 2026 at +972 Magazine: The Palestine movement must seek power over purity - https://www.972mag.com/palestine-bds-power-purity/

In this episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, FMEP President Lara Friedman speaks with Anan Quzmar, a Palestinian researcher focused on the systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists and the broader destruction of Gaza's documentation ecosystem; and  Zo Brown (an alias), the founder of Databases for Palestine about Israel's assault on Palestinian journalism – starting even before 10/7/23 – and the failures of international organizations ostensibly devoted to defend journalists, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). You can follow the work of Databases for Palestine on X at @databases4pal, and Anan at @QuzmarAnan. See the show notes on FMEP's website for resources related to this podcast -- https://fmep.org/resource/the-betrayal-of-gazas-journalists/.

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor does a deep-dive with award-winning foreign affairs journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed into the backstory of and some key themes in his new (and eagerly awaited) book: Crossing the Red Line (release date: 9/22/26; available now for pre-order - https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324118190).